Part IV – The Mount Rushmore of … Dodgers/Indians

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

First Lieutenant Aaron S. Lanfare (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on April 6, 1865, at Sailors Creek, Virginia. His citation reads:

Capture of flag of 11th Florida Infantry (C.S.A.).

Specialist Fourth Class George C. Lang (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on February 22, 1969, at Kien Hoa province, Republic of Vietnam. His citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Lang, Company A, was serving as a squad leader when his unit, on a reconnaissance-in-force mission, encountered intense fire from a well fortified enemy bunker complex. Sp4c. Lang observed an emplacement from which heavy fire was coming. Unhesitatingly, he assaulted the position and destroyed it with hand grenades and rifle fire. Observing another emplacement approximately 15 meters to his front, Sp4c. Lang jumped across a canal, moved through heavy enemy fire to within a few feet of the position, and eliminated it, again using hand grenades and rifle fire. Nearby, he discovered a large cache of enemy ammunition. As he maneuvered his squad forward to secure the cache, they came under fire from yet a third bunker. Sp4c. Lang immediately reacted, assaulted his position, and destroyed it with the remainder of his grenades. After returning to the area of the arms cache, his squad again came under heavy enemy rocket and automatic weapons fire from 3 sides and suffered 6 casualties. Sp4c. Lang was 1 of those seriously wounded. Although immobilized and in great pain, he continued to direct his men until his evacuation was ordered over his protests. The sustained extraordinary courage and selflessness exhibited by this soldier over an extended period of time were an inspiration to his comrades and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army.

Musician J.C. Julius Langbein (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on April 19, 1862, at Camden, North Carolina. His citation reads:

A drummer boy, 15 years of age, he voluntarily and under a heavy fire went to the aid of a wounded officer, procured medical ass1stance for him, and aided in carrying him to a place of safety.


As I’m sure you know, the newest season of Psych began this past Wednesday night. It was, as I thought it would be, a great show. That got me to thinking, what are the Ten greatest Psych episodes of all-time? Well, here they are…

1 - Episode 1.1 - Pilot

2 - Episode 6.2 - Last Night Gus

3 - Episode 6.16 - Santabarbaratown

4 - Episode 4.9 - Shawn Takes a Shot in the Dark

5 - Episode 3.8 - Gus Walks Into a Bank

6 - Episode 4.7 - High Top Fade-Out

7 - Episode 2.2 - 65 Million Years Off

8 - Episode 1.2 - Spellingg Bee

9 - Episode 5.8 - Shawn 2.0

10 - Episode 3.5 - Disco Didn’t Die. It Was Murdered!


Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get back to our Mt. Rushmore(s). Don’t forget to check out Sonny’Side to see who he picked. Also, feel free to comment and let us know who you’d put on the list.

Thanks to Wikipedia for the info…

The Mount Rushmore of the Los Angeles Dodgers

Jackie Robinson – I’ve talked a lot about guys who are on the short list of greatest of all-time… well I’m willing to say that I believe Jackie Robinson is the most important player of all-time. The fact that he was the first black major league player in any sport worth watching is nice… the fact that he was able to be a star at the highest level is the most important thing. What he did helped to open doors not just in sports, but in all kinds of business. Jackie played for the Dodgers from 1947 – 1956. He was the MLB Rookie of the Year in 1947 and was an All-Star from 1949 – 1954. He won the NL MVP award in 1949… the same year he won the NL Batting Title. Jackie was the NL Stolen Bases Champion in 1947 and again in 1949. He was a member of the Dodgers 1955 World Series championship team. His #42 has been retired by every MLB team in his honor. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. It goes without saying that Robinson took a lot of crap from people because of the color of his skin. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for him, but he did have at least a little help from some white men. When some players on his first Dodgers team threatened to sit out, manager Leo Durocher said, “I do not care if the guy is yellow or black, or if he has stripes like a f’ing zebra. I’m the manager of this team, and I say he plays. What’s more, I say he can make us all rich. And if any of you cannot use money, I will see that you are all traded”.

Pee Wee Reese – Another white man famous for standing by Jackie Robinson is Henry “Pee Wee” Reese who played for the Dodgers from 1940 – 1958 (with a four year break for WWII). Here’s the thing you need to realize… A white guy back then standing up for a black guy risked taking just as much crap as the black guy. If it was easy, more people would have done it. You also need to realize that having a bench warmer stand up for Jackie Robinson wouldn’t have had as much effect as having a star like Pee Wee Reese do it. Reese was a ten time All-Star (1942, 1946-1954) who helped lead the team to a World Series championship in 1955. He was one of the most popular players with both teammates and fans and was the Dodgers’ team captain. One of my favorite quotes from Reese is from a Roger Kahn book when Pee Wee told Kahn what he said to Robinson after Jackie kept having pitches thrown at him… “I told him, ‘You know Jack, some of these guys are throwing at you because you’re black. But others are doing it just because they plain don’t like you.’”. His #1 was retired by the Dodgers and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984. To talk about the importance of Jackie Robinson is the right thing to do. He was very important… but it would be foolish to overlook the role Pee Wee Reese played in the Jackie Robinson story. Joe Black (a black baseball player who would be name the NL Rookie of the Year in 1952) had this to say about Pee Wee Reese, “Pee Wee helped make my boyhood dream come true to play in the majors, the World Series. When Pee Wee reached out to Jackie, all of us in the Negro League smiled and said it was the first time that a white guy had accepted us. When I finally got up to Brooklyn, I went to Pee Wee and said, 'Black people love you. When you touched Jackie, you touched all of us.' With Pee Wee, it was No. 1 on his uniform and No. 1 in our hearts.”

Sandy Koufax – Sandy Koufax was a pitcher for the Dodgers from 1955 – 1966. During that time he was a 7 time All-Star (twice in 1961 and once each in 1962-1966). His Dodgers teams won the World Series four times (1955, 1959, 1963, 1965), while he won the Cy Young Award 3 times (1963, 1965, 1966) and was named World Series MVP two times (1963, 1965). Koufax also won the pitching Triple Crown 3 times (1963, 1965, 1966). He pitched four No-Hitters and one Perfect Game during his career. His #32 has been retired by the Dodgers. Sandy Koufax is the youngest player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was 36 years old at the time of his induction in 1972 (which leads to the obvious question… What was Sonny doing at 36? I don’t know, but he sure as hell wasn’t being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame!).

Fernando Valenzuela – Fernando Valenzuela pitched for the LA Dodgers from 1980 – 1990. He is the only player in MLB history to win the Rookie of the Year award, Cy Young Award, Silver Slugger Award and World Series championship all in the same season (**note that while his first game with the Dodgers was in September 1980, his rookie season wasn’t until 1981). He was a 6 time All-Star (1981 – 1986) and a Gold Glove Award winner (1986). He also added a second Silver Slugger Award in 1983. Valenzuela also pitched a No-Hitter in 1990. While he got hurt during the 1988 season, his Dodgers still won the World Series that season. While his #34 has not officially been retired, no player has worn that number for the Dodgers since Fernando left the team.

Honorable Mention: Roy Campanella, Don Sutton, Don Newcombe, Don Drysdale, Duke Snider, Orel Hershiser and Tommy Lasorda. Ok… about Lasorda being on the Honorable Mention list… He shouldn’t really be there. This is for players, and while he played for the Dodgers he’s more well known as the manager (for good reason, he was much better as a manager than as a player). So why is he on here? Because I doubt anyone ever loved the Dodgers more than Tommy Lasorda. My favorite story is of when Lasorda got married and his young bride asked him if he loved her more than the Dodgers and he said something like, “I love Dodgers baseball more than anything in the world… but I love you more than football”. I might not have the quote 100% right, but you get the point.


The Mount Rushmore of the Cleveland Indians

I’ll be upfront with you and say that two guys on this list are kind of a stretch for being on the Indians list, because they didn’t play many years with the organization… but these are all-time greats who didn’t really play many years with any one organization so they’re on this list.

Cy Young – This is the first stretch… Cy Young played for the Cleveland Spiders from 1890 – 1898 (a team that was later disbanded by MLB) and the Cleveland Naps from 1909 – 1911 (this team would become the Cleveland Indians). You know how a couple of days ago I said that Greg Maddux was the greatest pitcher I’ve ever seen pitch? Well, they don’t give the greatest pitcher each season the “Greg Maddux Award”… they give him the “Cy Young Award”. Cy Young ended his career with 511 wins… second on the list is Walter Johnson with 417. He also had 749 complete games and, at one time, pitched 25 1/3 consecutive hitless innings. He is an original member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Bob Feller – Bob Feller played for the Indians from 1936 – 1956 (like most from his time, he took a little vacation around the early 1940’s to take part in that great job creator known as WWII). He was an 8 time All-Star (1938 – 1941, 1946 – 1947, 1950) and a Triple Crown winner in 1940. Feller pitched 3 no-hitters and was a World Series champion in 1948. Six times Bob was the AL leader in wins (1939 – 1941, 1946 – 1947, 1951) and seven times he was the AL leader in strikeouts (1938 – 1941, 1946 – 1948). His #19 has been retired by the Indians and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.

Satchel Paige – While he only played a couple of seasons with the Indians (1948 – 1949), I’ve included Satchel Paige on this list because they were the first MLB team he played for (and because he didn’t play too many years with any one MLB team). Honestly, he spent his prime in the Negro Leagues (starting in 1926). He was part of the Indian’s World Series championship in 1948 (as a 42 year old Rookie). He played his last professional game in the minor leagues on June 21, 1966… just a couple of weeks shy of his 60th birthday (What, I’m sure you’re asking, will Sonny be doing a couple of weeks before his 60th birthday? I don’t know, but I can guarandamntee you he won’t be pitching in the minor leagues!). Paige doesn’t have the MLB “stats” and “awards” like others you’ll see on my list, but what he has is better. Bob Feller (who I’m sure you’ll remember from just reading about him) said, “Satchel Paige was the best pitcher I ever saw”. Ted Williams (aka, the Greatest Hitter ever, in my opinion) said, “Satch Paige was the greatest pitcher in baseball”. Lastly, Greg Maddux (the greatest pitcher I ever saw) has a son with the first name Satchel and a daughter with the middle name Paige. My point is, when the greatest say that someone is the greatest, I listen. Satchel Paige was the first Negro Leagues player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971. You can find a list of some great quotes from him here: http://www.baseball-almanac.com/quotes/quopaig.shtml

Bob Lemon - Bob Lemon played for the Indians from 1941 – 1958 (with a break in there for WWII – boy, the Nazis and Japs sure picked a crappy time to cause all of that trouble… look at all of the great players who missed years of playing time because of that war). His pre-war time with the Indians was as a utility player… 1948 was his first full season as a pitcher. He was part of the 1948 World Series championship team, pitching a no-hitter that season. Lemon was a 7 time All-Star (1948 – 1954), AL strikeouts leader in 1950 and the AL wins leader in 1955. His #21 has been retired by the Indians. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976. Oh, and Ted Williams called him “one of the very best pitchers I ever faced”. So… there’s that, which is nice.

Honorable Mention: Larry Doby, Kenny Lofton, Jim Thome, Albert Belle, Ricky Vaughn, Jake Taylor, Pedro Cerrano, Willie Mays Hayes, Roger Dorn.


Up next… Cubs and Royals.


Picture Tuesday

This is what happens when I try to pick Susie up from Ms. Jessie's class... she hides from me

Then she attempts to crawl around me to get to Jessie

I know this is a small picture, but this is the jackass UNCA fan who called security on me last season.  After the game this season I told Jeremy I was a little sad that we didn't get into a confrontation during the game this past Saturday.  Jeremy said, "Don't worry... it's not your fault".  That Jeremy... always there to let me know that at least he could hear me mocking the jackass during the game... 

Any place that lists jello as a vegetable deserves to have a picture of its menu on my blog

Not only is The Wife out of town, but her parents are gone too... so Lady is staying with me right now

The kids eating the meal I made for them

On our way to church (got to the 8:45 service ON TIME... suck it, Sonny)

As a reward for going to church, Mom and Dad came and took us out to eat Sunday night... I think Mom was worried that we wouldn't eat with The Wife out of town...